Regret Nothing
by AkuheiShadou
Summary: Lag is a poor boy on the streets, after his mother left his life was destroyed. One day while trying to steal his supper from the local market he gets caught by Guache Suede an employee. Lag ends up living with Gauche. Tegami Bachi Letter Bee
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Lag Seeing 

"Little boy, you have to pay for those," I hear, freezing in place.

'Shit, what am I supposed to do now?' I think to myself, slowly turning around to make sure I was the little boy it was directed at.

'Of course it is, dummy,' the voice in my head sounds again, 'what other little boy is going to be stealing his supper?' True enough. As I look up I see a man eying me, two tills over from the door I was about to walk through. I had the thought to bolt out of the automatic doors but they were already closing, they couldn't sense any movement. The man was already headed towards the spot I stood.

"Would you please lift your jacket?" he said in a stern voice. He looked old enough to be graduated from high school but younger than twenty-five, with silver, messy hair. It was semi-long, surrounding his face but not near reaching his shoulders that followed with purple eyes. He looked like an older version of myself, only my hair is a lighter, more white colour.

"I-er.. well," I stammer and pull the bag of a half dozen buns out from beneath my coat that now lay flat over my stomach. Feeling my face starting to heat up, I hand them over to the him.

I could feel tears starting to collect on the edge of my lid and soon they over flowed down my cheeks, I was too scared to think about wiping them away.

"Will you please come with me?" He asked, even though I knew that if I said no I I would still have to.

We walked a long ways, all the way across the store to the back rooms where they held the stores stock. When we entered, there were bins everywhere filled with food. I tried to peer in but I was to short. We walked through a new set of doors into a small, office-like room.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions, okay?" he told me and I nodded in reply, his voice was a lot softer now.

"Well, first, I think I should know your name."

"Lag. Lag Seeing."

"Okay, Lag, why were you steeling those buns?" he asked, his voice gaining seriousness as he nodded towards the desk where the bag lay over two equal stacks of paper.

"They were going to be for my supper," I replied, sniffling as quietly as possibly and rubbing at the tears that were starting t o subside. It was warmer in here, calming.

"Shouldn't your mother be making you something to eat?"

The tears started all over again as I started to explain why I had to steal my meals.

It was about two months ago when my mother disappeared . She had gone to pick up some seeds for the small garden we had in our back yard, school had just ended and she wanted her and I to plant some flowers to make the place we were living in more attractive. I waited a few hours for her to return, it wasn't unusual for her to take long, we weren't very wealthy at all so we didn't have a car and she often got distracted with things around the town. The only time she ever got out of the house was when she went to work. She never had any time to look around, not that there's much to see in this town anymore. It's a rundown dump. But once it hit supper time I got worried, I set out looking for her, I knew the town so well, I never had anything to do after school with mom working long hours at the post office. I often just walked and walked studying new stuff around town. I looked everywhere for her, I didn't see any trace. I decided to head back home since the darkness was setting in. Hoping she would be at home when I arrived. The house was vacant.

That night I sat in my bed, alone, waiting for the sound of the door to open and my mom to come give me a hug and a good explanation. Though it never happened. Neither did it any other night. We weren't known around town at all. My mom was never seen at work by citizens. Only the few fellow employees whom she had never spoke to. As for me. I never fit in with anyone at school. Granted, I had never tried. But none of them had tried with me either, and to tell you the truth I really didn't care. I was happy by myself. That was how I had always been, alone. The only one I ever really connected with was my mother. I had never known my dad. He left in the middle of the night before I was even born. He never even left a note for my mother. I knew nothing about him. Mom had never gotten over his leaving so we never spoke of him.

It wasn't unusual for my mother to be late with rent, the landowners knew she was out often so they always just stuck the notice on the door and left. I was only able to live in the house for a month before I had to leave. I left everything behind, my room, my memories and my life. I started on a fresh new slate of living on the streets of Kyrie and stealing all my meals or going hungry. Trying to find out what happened to my mother.

The man seemed very interested in my life story, asking me questions when I'd pause to catch my breath, taking me off on a whole new piece of my life.

When I was done speaking I felt a lot better. I figured the guy wasn't out to get me arrested or anything, it was like he understood everything I was saying.

"You know, Lag, I'm supposed to be off work in half an hour. If you want you can stay back here and wait for me to get off. I'll buy you the bread and I'll find something else to go with it. We can go back to my place and my little sister can prepare it for us. If you'd like, we can dine together," he said eagerly.

"Are you sure I won't be a burden?" I replied shyly. It had been a long time since I had a warm meal.

"No, not at all. I have guests over all the time." He smiled and headed for the door, there was a stack of paper in the corner. "You'll be able to find some pens somewhere to help keep you occupied while I'm gone. I'll come get you when my shift is over. Be good." And he left, closing the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Gauche Suede

For the past half hour it had felt like there was an extra 70 pounds on my shoulders. I checked my watch every few minutes waiting for my shift to be over while, stacking the new cans onto the half empty shelves.

When the final five minutes were over, I rushed my way to the back office, hoping no one had found the small boy I had been hiding in there. Of course he was. He had no where to go and no one to trust except me. When I opened the door he was siting there, aimlessly scribbling in a circular pattern on a piece of loose leaf.

''Did that seem as long for you as it did for me?" I ask jokingly. I smirked at him as he jumped slightly out of his chair, looking more alert than before.

"Ugh, even longer, I'll bet," he replies with a grimace on his face.

"Let's get going then!" I laugh, gesturing him to head out the door.

I hold the door open while he jumps out of his chair and stretches; I could hear his back cracking from across the room.

"That chair was worse to sit on than the cold concrete," he looks up at me, smiling, "but thanks for doing this for me... uh," he trails off.

"What is it?" I ask quickly, worried about what was wrong.

"You never told me your name."

"Oh! It's Gauche Suede. Sorry, I'm used to people knowing my name around the store from my name tag," I apologize to him, feeling guilty for not introducing myself properly.

"I should have known to look at your name tag, I fell silly," he tells me, "Thank you, ."

"You probably couldn't see it from down there," I reply rubbing his white hair, "You can just call me Gauche, if you like. And you're welcome, I'm always happy to help."

We start to walk through to the other side of the store, Lag asking me questions about everything. I answered them all except for what was for dinner, I wanted it to be a surprise, along with a few other things which he had no clue i was planning.

"Gauche, why are you doing this for me?" He asks me after a long moment of silence. I thought about it for a moment. I didn't really know until that moment.

"I guess it would be because in a certain way I know how you feel. Lag, I had a life similar to yours . When my younger sister was born, my mother died while giving birth. I had to take care of her from then on. Although I had a lot of support and help, I still had to deal with my sisters disability on my own. No one can afford to pay the medical bills. So I finished high school and started looking for a job. Unfortunately, this was the only place that would hire me. We live on our own, so I have to pay all the bills. Sometimes I get help, money-wise, from my family. I am trying to save enough for my Sylevette's leg surgery," I explained as we were about to arrive at home.

"Oh, thank you so much," Lag stopped and gave me a hug around my thighs.

"Lag, how old are you?" I ask, leaning down and wrapping my arms around his thin body.

"I'm 12," he replied tilting his head up to look into my eyes.

'Wow!' was the first thought that went through my head. He was the same age as my sister. Though he was much shorter than my sister would be standing. He also held a very childish atmosphere around him, though his mental being was very much matured from everything he had been through, even if it was just a month, it was a lot for a little boy to take.

We walked through the door to my small house. I led him through to the kitchen to meet Sylevette. She was very surprised to see our guest. She greeted him kindly then took the ingredients for supper, quickly getting to work, though she still had plenty of time to cook it.

I took Lag on a tour of where I lived. He was fascinated with all sorts of little nick- knacks and pictures. We went for a short walk down to the park and back after he was done looking around the house. It was nice having a reason to just come down and sit at the park. It was hard to get Sylevette to leave the house because she didn't want to be a burden. Getting her wheelchair down even the few steps outside are house was hard, and though she would never admit it, I knew it upset her to see all the boys and girls running around while she was stuck sitting and watching. She was still quite young.

We had spent a lot longer there than I had expected. Sylevette had just finished setting out all the things for dinner.

"I almost thought you weren't going to make it," she said letting out a sigh of relief, "I didn't want it all to go to waste."

"I would never miss one of your amazing meals," I replied, grinning. She always cooked great dishes, except for one that no one but I could stand. And I could only eat it because it had been served to me so many times that I had gotten used to it. It always looked delicious but the cream of vegetable soup always tasted sour no matter what she did to it. Though as amusing as it was to see how people tried there best to choke it down for Sylevettes sake it, always made her feel bad for attempting it again.

But tonight dinner was pork chops, rice, peas, and of course the bag of buns Lag had attempted to steal. It was wonderful. Everyone ate until they couldn't eat anymore. When we were finished, I gathered everything off the table, scraped the dishes into the garbage and put them into the sink to be washed.

"Sylevette," I callel from the sink, "may I speak with you in the hall for a moment, please?"

I could hear her wheelchair rolls towards the exit from the kitchen. I followed , turning to Lag and asking him to sit and wait while I entered the hall.

"Sylevette, I'm hoping this is okay with you, because you're the one whom manages the house, but Lag has no home and-"

"Gauche, I already figured that much out, you have a kind heart. You really do care. He can stay here as long as he wants," she said, startling me.

"Thank you so much," I replied grinning.

We entered the kitchen once again. Lag was fidgeting in his chair. He had so much energy, even after a meal like that he wanted to be up and moving.

"Gauche, Sylevette, thank you so much for the meal. But it's getting late. I should be going, I don't want to be too much of a pain," he said, looking at us and getting up out of his chair, starting for the door.

"Lag, please sit down," I demanded before he got too far. He surprisingly obeyed,"Sylevette discussed this and we would like to know if you want to live here."

We sat in silence for a long moment. I watched his face turn from surprised to happy to a look of great discomfort. The wait was killing me.

"I am very grateful for all you have done for me but I have nothing to give in return, I wouldn't want to be a burden to you guys. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can accept your offer," he let out in a huff.

I couldn't understand where he was coming from. I had told him he was welcome here and yet he still thought of himself as a pain in the ass? Did he perhaps not like us as much as it seemed? We had such a great time together that day, how could he not want to be here?

"Maybe when I am old enough to work and pay rent," he continued, "but for now I am in debt for your kindness, thank you."

I just sat there staring. Soon he left. I would probably never see him again.


End file.
